Ladies' Choice
by hystericalcherries
Summary: Who says nerds can't sing and dance? / Tomadashi Oneshot, Hairspray!AU.


A/N: This pairing is addictive and I am weak.

* * *

Being Honey Lemon's friend means a lot of things.

It means bright smiles and fierce hugs given at the slightest inclinations, returned or otherwise. It means being ready for an impromptu photoshoot; with flashes that can blind and filters that can make you or break you with the simplest change of opacity. It means sitting on her kitchen counter as she bakes, sneaking one or two snickerdoodles when she isn't looking. It means suffering through speeches about zodiac signs and talk of love lives, only to finally come to an end when a pillow is unceremoniously thrown at her face and a childish fight ensues. It means singing an entire chorus of show tunes with the AC blasting as they suffer through the midday heat and upcoming midterms. It means taking calls in the middle of the night, talking until they both fall asleep. It means going along with any- and every- scheme of hers, willingly or not.

Even volunteering for a dance hosted by San Fransokyo's youth center.

This ends up having Gogo supervising two juniors as they perch precariously on ladders in an effort to pin a large eyesore of a banner. She tries not to notice how the obnoxious yellow matches that of her own bright skirt she's been forced to wear, instead focusing on guiding the two underclassmen in their effort of setting the thing straight.

But really, a '60s themed dance? Who in their right mind picked that?

"Ooh, Gogo! Over here!"

She has a pretty good guess.

Gogo turns from the silent observation of her charges, instantly spotting the body the voice belongs to. Honey Lemon is flash of yellow and pink, poofy skirts swishing this way and that as she skips towards the Korean girl. Following behind her are their friends, dressed to fit the theme.

"Aren't leather jackets more '80s than '60s?" Wasabi asks as soon as they are within proximity; he, himself, is brandishing a neatly pressed, green suit made of tweed.

Gogo doesn't answer, but shrugs the familiar outerwear into more comfortable position around her shoulders. Though she does look pointedly at the beanie sitting on top of Fred's head, which reads 'Old Fashioned Monster'.

"Me and Gogo made a deal," Honey Lemon explains happily, skipping over to said Korean's side. "I pick out a dress for her, but she gets to wear two of her own things with it."

"Two?"

Gogo lightly kicks Wasabi in the shin at his one-worded inquiry, attention zeroing in on the scuffed sneakers her feet have been slipped into. Fred snickers at the way Wasabi gasps and fervently wipes at the now apparent dust mark on his pants, complaining loudly that he left his lint roller in his car.

"It looks good," a voice to her right says, capturing her attention and holding it when she spots its owner. Tadashi's stance is casual, hands in the pockets of his dark pants, which match the jacket that fits his broad shoulders so well.

GoGo forces all thoughts concerning his more-than-attractive outfit to the back of her mind. God, she wished Honey hadn't taken her pack of gum. "Thanks."

"Alrighty! It's time to divvy up the duties." Honey pulls out a clipboard and a pink gel pen from her ginormous purse, looking over the paper attached to the thing. "Now, I have here on my list… Wasabi, you're helping out with the food table and Tadashi… you're with music…"

"Music? Nice, bro! Bring down the house!" Fred takes out a kazoo from his pocket and blows into it.

"-Gogo, you're on dance duty."

She can't help the long-suffering sigh she lets out, "Honey, I don't-"

"You can totally do it! All you have to do is teach people the basic moves of the dances and then send them off to the dance floor. Easy peasy." Her best friend sounds even chirpier than usual. "And I've seen you dance- you're a natural- plus, you love dancing!"

Tadashi looks intrigued. "Really?"

"I do not-"

"Oh yeah, she loves it!" Honey twirls out of the way of Gogo's grab at her, the large bow in her hair trailing behind her, and hides behind the lanky form of Fred. "Whenever we have sleepovers-"

"Honey-" she grounds out, pointedly ignoring the rush of warmth pooling in her cheeks as she chases the girl around the comic nerd for four revolutions.

"-always ready to bust a move-" the tall girl sings, long legs taking her over to Tadashi and using him as a human shield. The robotics engineer looks far too amused, watching as Gogo dodges from side to side in an effort to catch an opening.

"-they don't need to know- oof!"

Honey shoves Tadashi and the young man crashes into Gogo. She can hear the Latina's giggle as she starts to peel her cheek from her friend's chest, only to discover that his white tie has caught onto the hair clip that pins her hair up.

"Oops, sorry about this," Tadashi apologizes, even though it is so clearly not his fault. Gogo stills when he reaches down and gentle disentangles them, laughing lightly at the other's huff of annoyance.

When she can finally pull away, it's to find that half of her hair has fallen out of its ponytail. She sighs and goes to yank the rest of it out, only to have Honey grab her wrist.

"Gogo, just leave it- it looks fine." The taller girl seems to have forgotten how Gogo had been calling for her blood not three seconds ago. "Opening hour is soon and we gotta start getting ready. C'mon."

And just like that, she and Fred are lugged away. They give a quick wave goodbye to the other two and make towards the entrance.

Honey Lemon then proceeds to stress herself out as she rushes to get things done while they follow her like ducklings, helping when they're directed to and offering soothing words when she looks to be moments away from collapsing into a convulsing ball of stress. Yet, despite the girl's outrageous predictions of everything going wrong and the place blowing up, the dance opens without a hitch and Honey reverts to her cheerful self.

Gogo teaches crowds of people, step by step, a number of dances she had been made aware of an hour before. They are awkward and out of rhythm, but, eventually, she whips them into shape and have them decently confident in the steps and motions they make. They thank her and joyously make their way towards the dance floor.

There is no one else wanting to learn so Gogo opts to see how Honey is doing at the admission table.

"I can't wait till the band starts playing," her friend says as she accepts a couple's money and passes them two tickets in return. Fred enthusiastically guides them through the doors, making room for the next customers to step up in line. "It's gonna be great!"

Gogo groans from her position against the wall and looks over to the stage where individuals dressed entirely in black are setting up. "Don't tell me you booked some lame, old band whose last gig was when the dinosaurs still roamed the Earth."

Honey frowns, pausing in her making of exact change. "No... wait, you don't know who's playing?"

"Should I?" Gogo picks a piece of lint off her jacket, uninterested. She happens to look up and spots her friend staring at her with an unreadable expression, oblivious to the man trying to get her attention, waving a bill in the air. "What?"

But Honey doesn't answer. Instead, she smiles, wide and eager.

Gogo gives her a weird look before walking away, intent on having a conversation with someone who wasn't crazy. Luckily, she spots Tadashi a couple of feet away, working with a group of kids their age and makes her way to him.

"Hey," he greets her with a pleasant smile over his shoulder; he's currently in the process of moving some equipment from stage left to stage right, muscles in his back and arms straining against his shirt (she spots a lone jacket strewn onto a chair to his left), passing off the weight of an guitar amp to a stage techie before turning to face her. "How's the dancing lessons going? Break anyone's leg yet?"

She grins, liking the playful nature of his voice, and crosses her arms loosely while leaning to the side like a tree swaying in the breeze, "Already sent three to the hospital."

"Ouch." He pretends to wince. "Brutal."

She shrugs noncommittally before nodding to the stage and saying, "Looks good."

"Yeah, there wasn't much in the budget," he explains, putting his hands on his hips as he looks around, proud. "But we did the best we could and I think the whole thing turned out great."

His cheerful attitude causes her to smile.

"Gogo!" It's amazing (annoying) how her best friend can still be heard all the way from across the room and GoGo says as much to Tadashi, earning a chuckle at her grumpy expression. Though he shoos her away when a second call is heard, he requests her to watch the band when they play. GoGo promises, giving him her signature salute before she turns on her heel and makes her way back to the entrance.

Honey directs her towards the newly formed line of people waiting to dance when she finally arrives. And so Gogo does her job.

Eventually music erupts, quite suddenly so, just as she teaching The Twist. It startles Gogo enough that she skips a step entirely. The group behind her stumbles, trying to find their new place in the choreography.

The band plays a few rounds and Gogo finishes with the group and sends them on their way just as a new song starts. Though this time a voice joins it.

A painstakingly familiar voice.

" _Hey little girl with the cash to burn."_

Gogo spins to face the stage, taking in the band. They were positioned so that they could move without worry of knocking into one another, stepping from side to side in time with the music the play. Trumpets and guitars and basses and drums let out their individual sounds, merging together to form a cohesive, upbeat song.

" _Well, I'm selling something you won't return."_

And at the head of it all stands Tadashi.

" _Hey little girl, take me off the shelf."_

"Oh my god," Gogo breathes.

" _'Cause it's hard having fun playing with yourself."_

"Oh my god," she repeats, pinching herself.

" _Once you browse through the whole selection,"_ Tadashi moves the lower half of his body in such a way that it has blood rushing to Gogo's face. This is way too real for her to be dreaming, she decides suddenly. _"Shake those hips in my direction."_

His eyes roam the crowd.

" _Prettiest package you never did see."_

They find her, shining in the spotlight when they take in her fish-out-of-water expression. He winks and she snaps her mouth closed.

His laugh is broadcasted through the speakers.

" _Take me home and then unwrap me. Shop around, but lil' darling, I've got to be,"_ he takes a deep breath, " _the ladies' choice, the ladies' choice."_

There's a collective whoop from the crowd.

Gogo spots Honey Lemon on the outskirts, clapping and bouncing on her heels happily. Beside her Fred is throwing himself about, enthusiastically yelling their friend's name.

The trumpets blare and Tadashi spins with a swagger that only comes from someone truly enjoying themselves, sliding to one side and back just as the next line is due.

" _Hey little girl looking for a sale."_

Three young men surround an old fashioned microphone similar to the one in Tadashi's grasp and lend their low voices in the chorus, repeating the lyrics.

" _Test drive this American male."_

Tadashi swings the microphone around, one arm fanned out as he belts into the thing. It's easy to see how much fun he's having, looking far too into his element with something other than robotics.

" _It's gonna take cash to fill my tank,"_ He points to the crowd. _"So let's crack open your piggy bank."_

A strand of hair frees itself from the gelled hairstyle he wears, curling with sweat.

" _Hey little girl going window shopping,"_ he sings as he pretends to slick his hair back (like a complete nerd, GoGo thinks), and it's immediately follows by a couple of girlish screams and high pitched squeals. _"I got something traffic stopping."_

A girl crosses the taped line separating the stage area and the dance floor, and the crowd follows. Everyone's rushing to join the dancing (or is it to get a closer look at the singer?), whether or not they know the dance.

She even catches a glimpse of Wasabi doing the dance, meticulous in every step and, even if it's a bit too stiff, looking content as he gains an eager partner and spins her about.

" _Hey little girl on a spending spree."_

Gogo feels the need to do something-what, she doesn't necessarily know yet. But that small blimp doesn't stop the itching feeling in her chest and how it trails all the way down to her toes before traveling back up until it sizzles to the very tips of her ears.

She watches the people step in time with the song.

" _I don't come cheap but the kisses come free."_

Gogo sets her jaw and, without time to second guess herself, marches purposefully to the dance floor.

" _Closer inspection, I'm sure that you'll agree."_

She pushes through the crowd, upsetting the rhythm of things and drawing attention as she makes her way to the front.

She can see his eyes lit up when he spots her, surprised enough that he stops dancing.

" _I'm the ladies' choice, ladies' choice."_

Gogo doesn't break a beat when she joins the masses in the collective dance. She twist and shimmies and jabs where she's supposed to, though she's sure she's a little more smoother in her moves. Her knees bend and she jumps, skirt flaring as she starts a spin halfway up. Her sneaker clad feet slap against the ground when she lands, not pausing as they shift apart and she glides across the floor.

His foot's tapping to the beat.

She doesn't break eye contact when she does a hop step and thrust her hips forward, challenging.

His face goes blank for a moment as he watches her, but, soon, a grin slowly forms. And when she throws him her signature salute into the mix he's howling into the mic, the sound raspy and loud and all-too-alluring.

" _Hey little girl on a spending spree,"_ The grin takes up the entirety of his face. _"I don't come cheap but the kisses come free."_

He pulls his head away and takes a deep breath before he's back.

" _On closer inspection, I'm sure that you'll agree."_

Tadashi slides on his knees until he's at the very edge of the stage, almost eye level and close enough that she could touch him if she so wished.

" _Oh, hey little girl, listen to my plea,"_ She can see how his eyes follow her and not the people dancing in sync behind. _"I come with a lifetime guarantee."_

She twirls on her heel, feeling the skirt lift up over her knees.

" _One day maybe you will find the baby makes three."_

She skips back toward the stage, feeling her hair brush against her neck and stick to her cheeks.

" _It's the ladies' choice, I'm the ladies' choice."_

There's a giant cheer that nearly deafens her following the trio of backup singers as they hit a particularly impressive note.

" _The ladies' choice, I'm the ladies' choice, choice, choice,"_ Tadashi chants, voice talking on a breathy quality when she finally allows herself a smile, wholeheartedly enjoying herself. " _I'm the ladies' choice."_

By the time he finishes the last note and announces that there'll be a ten minute break before the next set, offering a breathless smile as means of goodbye, Gogo has already retreated from the dance floor and schooled her expression into one of aloof amusement. Though she isn't fooling anyone as she watches him exit the stage via the stairs (too proper to even think about jumping off it) and make a beeline towards her.

She's still breathing a little heavily when he stops in front of her, bouncing on the balls of his feet, but doesn't think much of it since he's just the same. He's strung high on all the excesses energy and the rush of it all, eyes bright and crinkling beautifully with the force of his smile.

Gogo has the urge to squint, as if she's staring at the sun.

However, she doesn't say that- or that she likes this side of him, how he buzzes with unconcealed excitement, confidence running through every muscles as he, shoulders back and spine straight, stands tall- but instead leans back and admits, "Didn't know you could sing, Hamada."

He laughs at that and something warm pools at the base of her stomach.

"Aunt Cass is a big fan of karaoke." And, as if that explains everything, he grins wider. "Why, you surprised?"

She purses her lips, "Yeah, suppose I am."

He's a bit smug, if that satisfied curl of his lips is anything to go by. "Guess there's a lot you don't know about me, huh?"

Gogo's about to reply, witty comeback already planned (she's more than confident it would leave him bumbling), when their conversation is interrupted. A group of girls pass by and compliment him on his performance, all hopeful smiles and bright eyes, erupting into giggles when he thanks them.

But he excuses himself from them a mere moment later, dutifully returning to her side just as their friends emerge from the crowd and surround them.

"Oh, Tadashi!" Honey comes squealing over. She crashes into the Hamada, giving him a fierce hug that is instantly returned. "That was amazing! You were amazing!"

The said young man laughs as he pulls away, scratching his cheek with one hand as the other pounds against Fred's expecting fist.

"Righteous, man, truly righteous."

"Thanks, guys," Tadashi says as Wasabi compliments him on his vocal range.

"Oh, and Gogo!" Honey starts, throwing herself at her best friend. Gogo steadies them when the other's long limbs threaten to unbalance, grunting in surprise. Her friend's face is inches from hers, green eyes sparkling with pride as she squeezes the life out of her. "You were great- I mean, I knew you were going to be, but it never gets less great! The very best!"

"She's right. It was kinda amazing to watch," Wasabi says, laughing.

"Amazing," Tadashi agrees and Gogo finds that it's far too warm in this dress of hers.

"Looks like the science nerds are taking the world by storm! No joke, this would be the perfect moment to start a band-Wasabi can learn the keyboard and Honey knows the violin and me, I can do the saxophone. It'll be great!" Fred laughs boisterously, slinging an arm over both Gogo's and Tadashi's shoulders.

Their heads are pushed down, almost cracking against one another with their friend's enthusiasm and nearly resulting in scrambled brains. Thankfully, they pull up just in time, only to find their faces rather close. Tadashi smiles and Gogo can feel her face heating up, so she elbows the comic nerd in the gut. They're let go with a splutter as the boy backs into Wasabi.

When they're standing straight again, Tadashi asks if she can teach him some dance moves.

She ignores the strangled noise Honey makes and says yes, but when he makes to take her hand and lead her back to the dancer floor she carefully pulls back. "Don't you go back on in, like, two minutes?"

His face falls when he looks to the stage, where, sure enough, the band is already starting to assemble. Gogo smiles, finding it endearing how he would rather spend time with her- where, no doubt, they would be tripping over one another and end a tangle of limbs on the floor (not that she would have minded)- than go back. "Oh, yeah, you're right."

She looks away and over to where Wasabi and Fred are talking with some other dance goers, "Maybe after."

"After?" he repeats, face morphing from surprise to happiness in two seconds flat. "Yeah, I would lov- I mean, that'd be amazing- sounds… good. Yes, good."

Someone calls his name from the stage and they look over to see the drummer gesturing wildly, obviously waiting on him. He fumbles through an unnecessary apology as he starts backing in that direction.

"Okay, well… I'm going to go over there and try not to send anyone else to the hospital." She jerks her thumb in the direction of the line forming on the outskirts of the dance floor.

"And I'll, uh, go and…" He gestures vaguely over his shoulder where the band waits impatiently. But Tadashi doesn't notice- he's too busy looking at Gogo. "But after…"

Gogo smiles. "After."

He nods, nearly falling over the rope that fences off the dance floor from the rest of the large room. He flails a little as he steadies himself, sending her an embarrassed grin as he laughs at himself and ducks under it. Amused, she waves.

Tadashi waves back before turning and disappearing through the crowd and appearing on stage.

"After, huh?" Honey says as she leans over the shorter girl's shoulder, grinning devilishly.

Gogo reddens and turns away abruptly. "I'm gonna go and do some stupid dances."

"You can't just dance away from your feelings!" Her friend calls after her, drawing the attention of the people surround her. "Gogo!"

She doesn't turn back.

Though, when the music starts playing and a voice rises above the instruments, she can't help the warmth that floods her. She'll be waiting for 'after' with a smile on her face.


End file.
